Akeela hopped up the steps of the Messenger Aerie, singing a tune to herself as she did, jumping up on the last step she skipped along and twisted between fast moving messengers as they went about their duties, skipping down to the atrium in the middle of the grand building, the aerie was built around it, a small garden to help calm the nerves after a busy day of swooping around to deliver heavens messages and prophetic thoughts to those on earth.
She tugged on a braid as she skipped along the path that lead to the center of the aerie, where her friend was waiting for her, they were going on a secret mission today and she was supposed to keep it to herself. She spotted him just ahead, leaning against a tree, and waved excitedly when he finally managed to see her coming down the path.
"Hello dearest friend."
"Hi Zave!"
"Did you bring it?"
She reached into the fold of her new cinched robe and produced the supplies he had asked her to bring. He eyed them all closely and smiled at a job well done. Akeela was the perfect one to bring on this self assigned mission he had taken up. She was fearless and knew how to fight if she needed to and wouldn't back down when she saw something that wasn't right.
He held out his hand to her, "Come on, we have to move quick, before anyone notices that your not in your class and I'm not doing my job."
"But you hardly ever do your job."
"And I intend to keep it that way."
The fledgling took his hand and they turned towards the other end of the garden, the part of the aerie that was nearly empty, it was the living quarters and where the Archangels office was. No one would be on this side at this time of day, except perhaps the Messenger himself, and so they tiptoed in front of the cracked door (Zaveriel had spied in through the crack and saw the Messenger leaning over his cluttered desk filling something out on a piece of aged parchment) and ran the rest of the way out the back end of the deserted living quarter halls.
Behind the aerie was the square, a gathering place for angels of all factions and choirs to comingle, it was like the Axis but less centered. Something akin to a human marketplace on Earth, stalls and various canvas roofed buildings lined the streets, but no one paid any mind to the fledgling and youngling darting around them towards the one place no one would dare to go near willingly.
Heaven was a bright place, full of love and peace, or at least it was getting there. But even they had their dark places, and this was one of them, a looming building built like a medieval prison was the Oubliette. It was designed to torture the mind, whoever went in hardly ever came out, and if they did they never came out the same as they went in. Great horrors were inflicting in that place, and there was one prisoner, one prisoner and his friend who was due to being freed.
"Why are we going in here? I don't like it."
"Don't tell me your scared."
"Im not scared!", though even as she said it she pressed closer to his side and her grip tightened on his fingers. The messenger angel stopped at the bottom of the rising steps and turned to kneel in front of her.
"Do you remember me telling you about my friend?"
She nodded, "You said that they were really mean to him. Like when they caught me sneaking through the Heart Hall.", it was a bit more then that but he spared her the nasty details of the situation.
Zaveriel nodded, "And we're going to rescue him."
"How?"
"Im glad you asked.", he reached into the satchel hanging from his shoulder and pulled out two little daggers, like the ones she had gotten to use down on earth that one time, and held them out to his young friend, "With these."
"How did you get them!"
"You could say I borrowed them. But if Michael ever asks don't ever say my name."
She mimed zipping her lips, "Snitches get stitches."
"Right you are."
"What's your friends name and can I kick people?"
He stood back up, gripping his own short blade tightly, taking her hand back into his "His name is Gadreel. And you can kick all the assholes you want."
"Good. I like kicking meanies."